Transitions from classical to quantum behaviour in a spin system with two degenerate ground states separated by twin energy barriers which are asymmetric due to an applied magnetic field are investigated. It is shown that these transitions can be interpreted as first- or second-order phase transitions depending on the anisotropy and magnetic parameters defining the system in an effective Lagrangian description.

The pure-Skyrme limit of a scale-breaking Skyrmed O(3) sigma model in 1+1 dimensions is employed to study the effect of the Skyrme term on the semiclassical analysis of a field theory with instantons. The instantons of this model are self-dual and can be evaluated explicitly. They are also localised to an absolute scale, and their fluctuation action can be reduced to a scalar subsystem. This permits the explicit calculation of the fluctuation determinant and the shift in vacuum energy due to instantons. The model also illustrates the semiclassical quantisation of a Skyrmed field theory.

The ADM and Bondi mass for the RST model have been first discussed from Hawking and Horowitz's argument. Since there is a nonlocal term in the RST model, the RST lagrangian has to be localized so that Hawking and Horowitz's proposal can be carried out. Expressing the localized RST action in terms of the ADM formulation, the RST Hamiltonian can be derived, meanwhile keeping track of all boundary terms. Then the total boundary terms can be taken as the total energy for the RST model. Our result shows that the previous expression for the ADM and Bondi mass actually needs to be modified at quantum level, but at classical level, our mass formula can be reduced to that given by Bilal and Kogan [5] and de Alwis [6]. It has been found that there is a new contribution to the ADM and Bondi mass from the RST boundary due to the existence of the hidden dynamical field. The ADM and Bondi mass with and without the RST boundary for the static and dynamical solutions have been discussed respectively in detail, and some new properties have been found. The thunderpop of the RST model has also been encountered in our new Bondi mass formula.